I'll Never Forget
by calajane
Summary: AU post 4x15. After Jeremy's death Caroline finds comfort she wasn't looking for and new strenght to face what the world is throwing at her.
1. Chapter 1 - Too Much

**Author's Note:**This has been something I've been playing in my mind. I hope you enjoy it. It starts post 4x15. Jeremy's dead and Elena turned off her emotions. But it's going to go AU from there.

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><p>She was a vampire, she didn't feel cold. But as she walked down the street towards her house, Caroline wrapped her jacket tightly around her, her body shivering as she did her best to keep the tears at bay. Watching Elena unable to cope with Jeremy's death was too much for her. It drove home the one thought she was actively avoiding for the past two or three years. Caroline herself managed to cheat death over and over again, Elena too. But nobody else she knew was as lucky. They all died. Jenna, Bonnie's Grams, Vicki, Alaric, her dad... And now Jeremy.<p>

They all died and it was all for nothing.

The cure, the reason why they killed Kol, and with him thousands of vampires who did nothing wrong to them, was gone. Silas was out there somewhere, and Jeremy was dead.

Who would be next? Bonnie's dad? Her mom? Would her own luck ran out before that? Would she have to bury her friends first?

Caroline blinked several times to chase the tears away.

"Fancy seeing you here, love."

She jumped, startled, turning around quickly to face Klaus. She was so lost in her grim thoughts she didn't even notice him walking up to her.

"Klaus," she said, breathlessly. He smirked, clearly pleased with her reaction to him.

"You shouldn't be walking on your own... You don't know what kind of monsters are hiding in the dark."

He meant himself, she was sure of it. She could see the way his shoulders were relaxed. He was feeling playful, and there she was, a mouse, ready to be toyed with.

Something heavy settled in her stomach and a cold, iron grip squeezed her insides. She raised her hands, defensively. She shook her head, taking a couple of steps back, away from him.

"No," she said as firmly as she could, ignoring the little tremble she could hear. "I can't do this now. Come back tomorrow, Klaus. I'll flirt, and throw insults at you and listen to veiled threats and whatever you want. Just leave me alone tonight. I can't..." She had to close her eyes and take a deep breath to keep herself in control. "I can't handle this right now."

When she opened her eyes again, he was still there, looking more worried.

"Caroline? What's wrong?" He took a step towards her, reaching for her. She moved away, avoiding his touch like it was vervain.

"Don't," she warned him and he stopped, dropping his hand to his side.

"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked again, softly. His sharp eyes roamed over her body not with desire but with worry, assessing her for injuries, making sure she was fine. She was far from it, though none of her wounds were physical.

"Everything," she replied without thinking. "Everything's wrong. It's been like that for a while, and I just..." She took another deep breath. "Jeremy's dead. Permanently. Which is probably good news for you, not so much for us. Bonnie's crazy, Elena's..." The world around her blurred for a moment as tears filled her eyes again. She wiped them quickly, willing herself to calm down, calling on every ounce of her self control. She couldn't let herself cry.

"Caroline... I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

"I'm sorry you're hurting. You know I hate seeing you hurt."

Once again, he reached out to her, trying to offer her comfort. She pushed his hand away.

"Don't. Don't touch me!" she raised her voice, sounding a little hysterical.

"I'm not going to hurt you, love. I just wanted to offer you some comfort," he explained.

"Well you can't. Because Jeremy's dead and somebody will have to take care of all the funeral arrangements and legal stuff and it's not like Elena can do anything in her current state. But that's okay, because she has me. I'm a fixer and I'm going to take care of everything. There's so much that needs doing."

"Caroline, you don't have to do this alone."

"And who's going to do this with me? Bonnie? In between her quest to kill twelve people? Stefan? He and Damon will be too busy taking care of Elena, who is now all alone in the world because her whole family is dead! Maybe Tyler? Oh no! I forgot, he's on the run and doesn't even answer my calls, so he doesn't even know what happened! And now you want to help me? Comfort me? Can't you see that I'm this close to breaking? And if I let myself break, I'm not going to be able to pull myself together again! So don't touch me! I can't! I can't..." A strangled sob escaped her and she suddenly lost the ground under her feet. Klaus caught her before she crumbled to the ground and there was nothing stopping the unwanted tears from escaping.

The last, thinnest barrier broke and she couldn't stop her sobbing.

Klaus's strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She hid her face in his chest, curling her fingers in his shirt. He was muttering into her ear, though she couldn't hear the words over the sound of her own sobs. One of his hands was rubbing small circles on her back, but it only made her cry more.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but Klaus didn't move away, he just held her, letting her grieve. Grieve for Jeremy, for her father, for Alaric and for everybody else they lost over the years. He let Caroline grieve for herself and everything she would have to face in the coming days.

And somehow, the grief didn't break her.

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><p><em>Coming next: The morning after. Caroline still has problems to solve and bad things to face, not to mention that her life is even more complicated than before.<em>


	2. Chapter 2 - Morning after

**A/N: For those of you who are wondering, I'm on chapter 10 planning wise (each being around 1000 words), though that is only the beginning. This will be a longer story, so buckle up! I'll be posting every other day, so that I have time to keep writing every day and still have some safety net. I don't want anyone to wait too long for the next chapter. I know I hate to wait weeks for a new installment if I enjoy the fic.**

**Also, I have to say, the number of hits this fic got before I made a cover for it left me shocked and utterly grateful people gave this story a chance. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and that this one won't disappoint. Enjoy!**

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><p>She was warm and comfortable. But more importantly, she was relaxed and well rested. She could hardly think of a time where she felt this good. Ever since she was turned into a vampire her life revolved around one crisis after another. She was too stressed to rest or eat properly, always forgoing those comforts until she was sure her friends were doing okay.<p>

This time was different, somehow. Caroline refused to open her eyes, afraid the feeling of comfort would disappear the moment she was forced to face the real world. Instead, she pushed her face into the pillow with a content sigh. She could allow herself a couple more minutes, she decided. She slept in so rarely that when her cell started to ring she huffed in annoyance.

She rolled to the side and reached to her bedside table, where her cell was. She opened one eye for a second to press the green answer button, before closing it again.

"Hello?" she said softly.

"Caroline," Stefan's tired voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hey," she greeted him again, this time with more warmth. Sure, there was no way he was calling about something pleasant, but he was her best friend. She would always be happy to hear from him.

"You sound good."

For some reason that simple sentence made her feel incredibly guilty.

"You don't," she said instead, unwilling to question her good mood despite their terrible circumstances.

"Elena turned off her humanity and Damon and I stayed up to make sure she wouldn't act out or anything..."

"What?!"

That made her sit up and open her eyes immediately. Caroline might've wanted to pretend that she would go right back to lazying around and sleeping after she hung up on Stefan, but it was time to face reality.

Unfortunately, facing reality meant facing the fact that with her eyes open, she was looking at jeans clad legs lying next to hers and knowing exactly who those legs belonged to. She could no longer fool herself into thinking it was her pillow she cuddled just seconds ago...

One problem at a time, she told herself before she focused again on what Stefan was saying.

"... And he just couldn't watch her suffer like that."

"Of course, it's all Damon's fault," she muttered.

"Caroline."

"I know, I know," she tried sounding apologetic, but hell would freeze over before she apologized for her comment. Stefan didn't expect her to anyway. Caroline's dislike for his brother was well known.

"We need help figuring out what to do next."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," she told him and hung up.

It was time to face the music. She opened her mouth to say something before she stopped herself. She had no idea what to say and if she didn't have good come backs, Klaus would more than likely make her doubt herself. Then she would resolve to bringing up his murder record, they would both get angry and he would probably go kill innocent bystanders to blow off some steam...

She needed to stall.

Caroline got up without another word and went to the closet to pick an outfit for today. Before she locked herself in the bathroom to get ready, she finally looked at Klaus, who was sitting on her bed, putting his boots back on.

It was such a casual, domestic image; with his hair sticking every direction and his movements as slow and relaxed as she was feeling... She couldn't snap at him like that! Despite the fat that she probably should...

"Do *not* let my mother see you," she told him instead. Firmly, but not completely unfriendly. Then, she quickly closed the bathroom door, unwilling to see his reaction. If she was lucky, he would be gone by the time she was ready to leave the bathroom.

Which, of course he wasn't. Why would the world ever work in her favor?

The moment she came back into the room, he got up from where he was sitting on the bed. Part of her was relieved as she expected he would do what anyone else would, and she would catch him snooping around. But no. He was just sitting there, waiting for her.

"I have to go," she told him, because she had to say something.

"Yes," he nodded. "Another crisis at the Salvatore's. I've heard."

For a moment, they just stood there, in silence, looking at each other.

"Thank you," Caroline said finally, looking away. "For last night, for being there for me."

"Anytime, love," he said like he meant it and Caroline knew that he did. She looked up and saw a soft smile playing on his lips. Before she could stop herself, she was smiling back.

She took a step towards him.

"It won't change anything," she surprised herself with how apologetic she sounded. "You know that, right? I'm going to walk out those doors and you're going to leave, and everything will be back to how it was before last night. At some point, my friends will come up with another plot to end you, and I'll be helping them and... I just can't forgive you for all the things you did. I can't just suddenly forget about all of them just because I spent the night crying in your arms..."

She watched his arms tense more and more with every word that left her mouth.

"But I'm not going to forget what you did for me either. You didn't have to... I didn't expect you to... But you did, and... I'll never forget that. I meant what I said, Klaus. *Thank you*"

"Anytime," he repeated himself, sounding much more vulnerable this time around.

She walked up to him and before he could react, she kissed him gently on the cheek. When she stepped back again, Klaus was looking at her with astonishment. Like he wasn't expecting her to kiss him at all and like he didn't know what to do with that now.

"Goodbye Klaus," she said, softly before walking out of the room.

She knew she made a huge mistake, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it.

One crisis at a time, she told herself firmly.

Klaus could wait. Elena... Probably couldn't.

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><p><em>Coming next: Humanity-less Elena is not Miss C<em>_ongeniality. No surprise there._


	3. Chapter 3 - Elena

**A/N: Happy New Klaroline Year everybody! Thank you to each and every one of you who read the first two chapters. I can't believe so many of you decided to give it a try and follow and fav... 3 **

**Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy it :) See you on Monday!**

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><p>As she was leaving the house, Caroline found a note from her mom saying she had to leave for an emergency. That meant only one thing in this town, so without thinking about it too long, Caroline pulled out her cell and dialed her mother.<p>

"Hey, mom, I found your note," she said the moment Liz answered. "Is everything alright?"

"Hi honey, hold on for a second." Caroline could hear her mother move away from other people. It meant she was about to hear something the daughter of the sheriff shouldn't be privy to, but a daughter of a sheriff who was also a vampire could have some insight on.

"The Gilbert house burned down and there was a body inside," Liz said once she was in a safe distance from anyone who could overhear her. "I can't reach Elena and Damon isn't answering his phone."

Caroline took a deep breath. She could face the world without breaking down. She cried all the tears she had last night, now it was time to handle everything else.

"That body... It might be Jeremy. Everybody returned from the cure hunt, but Jeremy... He didn't make it. They brought his body back. Elena knows, she's at the Salvatore Mansion with Stefan and Damon, I'll talk to them. I don't think Elena's in any condition to talk to people right now, but..."

"No, of course. I'll take care of as much as possible, but there will still be some official paperwork," Liz hesitated. "Let's worry about this later. I love you, honey."

Caroline smiled at that. "I love you too, mom. I'll talk to you later."

As she got into her car, and squashed the guilt she was feeling. Just like there were things she was allowed to know because she was a vampire, there were things she couldn't tell her mom the Sheriff. Elena's humanity switch was one of those things. So it would have to wait until they solved that particular problem.

Keeping the "little things" from her was much easier now that her mother was aware of the big bad secret. Not to mention the fact Caroline wouldn't give up their new and improved relationship for anything. And if Carline and the Salvatore brothers managed to get Elena to turn her emotions back on, the sheriff wouldn't have to know anyway.

It didn't take too long to get to the Salvatore Mansion, but when Caroline got out of the car and went to the main door, she didn't even have the time to knock before the door opened and she was greeted by Damon's scowling face.

"Took you long enough, Blondie," he said before turning around and walking back to the living room, without even waiting for her reply. Which wouldn't be more than the eye-roll she was already sending his way. Damon never was the nicest person, but when he knew he screwed up and he knew he couldn't fix the problem he created easily... Well...

"I got here as quickly as possible. I had to talk to my mom first. She was at the Gilbert house, trying to figure out how carefully she should be looking into it," she said loudly, knowing everybody inside would hear her. "I didn't tell her about Elena switching off her humanity..."

"Good. I don't need more useless blondes around," Elena's cold voice stopped Caroline in her tracks. She knew there would be a difference, emotions and the way Elena felt them were always such a crucial part of who she was that without them Caroline just new it would be like talking to a completely different person. Just how different, though... With one simple, yet mean spirited sentence Elena proved just how little of her humanity was left there.

"Good morning to you too," Caroline tried not to sound bothered, but at the same time she was sending an angry glance towards Stefan, who was sitting on the couch by the fireplace.

"It was good, but those two don't seem to enjoy it as much." Bored, Caroline realized. Elena sounded bored. And in Caroline's personal, painful experience a vampire who didn't care about you, was at their most dangerous when they were bored.

"Turning on your emotions could make it interesting," Caroline suggested. Hey, it was worth a try. Elena's snort was answer enough.

"And turn into the sniveling mess I was? No thank you. I like it like this. I finally feel free. I'm going to stay like this," she told them before leaving.

It was such a change from the way her friend usually behaved that Caroline was left standing there, shocked.

Finally, she turned to Stefan and they exchanged silent gazes.

"What have you tried so far?" she asked him as she joined him on the couch.

"Threats, begging, Damon tried using his sire bond, but apparently it's no longer in place now that she doesn't have emotions to anchor it... I'm considering just giving her some time. Maybe she will turn it on on her own after a while."

Caroline raised her eyebrows. It was Elena, sure, and Caroline couldn't imagine her hurting anyone. But at the same time, a tiny voice in the back of her head kept whispering how bad of an idea it would be to let a vampire out, without any humanity to control it.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" she carefully voiced her doubts. Stefan looked at her, tired and frustrated like she hasn't seen him before.

"Do you have any other ideas? Because she needs to turn it on herself. Damon wants to try and force her to do it... I'd prefer to exhaust other possibilities before getting to torture..."

That made her flinch, her mind supplying her with unwanted images of being locked in a cellar without her daylight ring, being burned by the sun. Of being locked in a cage, getting shot with wooden bullets, over and over again. Of convulsing in pain as the werewolf bite festered on her neck.

No, torture was not something she wanted her friend to experience. Emotions turned off or otherwise.

"There has to be a way," she said firmly. "This is Elena, we have to help her."

"I don't want to be helped. I don't need your help," Elena's angry voice drifted from the stairs, as the girl in question walked in. "Why don't you just accept there's nothing you can do and leave me be. Your constant fretting is starting to annoy me. And you will not like the consequences if I decide to punish you."

Caroline blinked. That cold cruelty, shes seen it before.

In Katherine, she suddenly realized.

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><p><em>Coming next: Caroline finds a way, but will it work?<em>


	4. Chapter 4 - Plan

**A/N: Hope you all had a very pleasant weekend. I know I did! I'm sorry for posting so late, but my day job was quite demanding and I couldn't get away to post this chapter. Enjoy!**

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><p><em>Previously:<em>

_Caroline blinked. That cold cruelty, shes seen it before._

_In Katherine, she suddenly realized._

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><p>"You don't mean it," Caroline told her friend, terrified more by her own trail of thoughts than by what Elena had implied.<p>

"Oh, I do," Elena said. "Perhaps I'll start with the good Sheriff. She wouldn't mind joining Ric and Jeremy, wouldn't she? Oh, and your dad, of course. They could hold little tea parties for all the dead relatives. They could invites Bonnie's Gramps, too!"

Caroline's blood ran cold, colder than usual. Not like Katherine at all, a part of her mind supplied. Worse than that. Katherine was cruel with a purpose. Elena... Just because she could.

Before she could think about what she was doing, Caroline flashed over to her friend and snapped her neck. She watched her friend's body crumble to the flooor, shocked with her own actions.

"Caroline!" "Whoa!"

Stefan and Damon were by Elena's sides almost immediately, looking between her lifeless body and Caroline. Stefan's confused gaze and Damon's angry one brought Caroline back from the sudden panic she experienced.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Damon demanded.

"She just threatened my mother, Damon! And with her humanity switched off, thanks for that, by the way, do you really want to trust her not to follow on those threats?" She turned the tables on him. It seemed to work too, Caroline was surprised to discover as she watched Damon look away, with guilt clearly written all over his face.

"Isn't breaking her neck a little overkill though?" Stefan asked.

"I don't feel comfortable with her roaming the streets of Mystic Falls like that," Caroline pointed out. "So why don't you two keep her here, and try to get her to flip the switch back on, while I go and make sure all the humans she could try and retaliate against are safe."

"You're not going to help?"

"You just watched me snap Elena's neck after she pushed me too far. You want a repeat performance?" She stared at Stefan. He knew how badly she took it when her dad died. How could he even think she could sit around and listen to more taunts about dead family members?

When none of them answered Caroline took a deep breath and nodded, more to herself than to them.

"So I'm going to go and find my mom and Matt, and you stay here, keep an eye on her," she told the Salvatore brothers firmly. She looked at them for a second, making sure they didn't have any other objections and turned around.

Plan, she liked having a plan. Even if it went only as far as getting the humans in her life safe. She could worry about the next thing later. One step at a time, she told herself as she dialed her mom to tell her what was happening and not to trust Elena for the time being. She vaguely recalled Matt having a shift at the Grill, so as she talked, she drove her car in that direction.

When she walked into the Grill she immediately noticed Matt standing behind the bar. She smiled to herself, though the grin quickly disappeared when she noticed who he was talking to. Rebekah Mikaelson.

Trying to keep her scowl to a minimum, Caroline walked across the room and joined them at the bar.

"Matt, hi," she greeted her friend before turning to Rebekah. "Hi," she said in a much colder tone. It didn't seem to have any impact on the blonde Original, as she just rolled her eyes at Caroline's antics. Deciding to ignore her back, Caroline turned her attention back to Matt.

"I need to talk to you," she said.

He frowned. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Is it ever?" she asked pointedly. "I just wanted to let you know to avoid Elena for now. Damon, the genius that he is, used his sire bond to get her to tun her emotions off. She wasn't dealing with Jeremy's death all that well... She's at Salvatore's, making all sorts of threats. So..."

Matt grimaced at the news.

"Yeah," she agreed with his wordless reaction. "Stefan and Damon are trying to get her emotions back on, but it's not working so far..."

"Can't Damon use his sire bond again?" he asked.

"Apparently it's no longer working," it was Caroline's turn to grimace. It was one of those "good news, bad news" kind of days. Good news! Elena is no longer sired to Damon! Bad news: she switched her humanity off.

The lack of comments from Rebekah made Caroline look at the Original again, and what she saw made her worry a little bit more. She knew the expression the other blonde was sporting. That amused kind of calculation. Caroline had seen it on her brother's face far too many times. Before she could call the other girl out, Rebekah smiled, pleased with herself.

"Mhmmm," she hummed. "If only you knew someone powerful enough to compel Elena and make her turn her humanity back on..."

"Yeah, because you would do it, out of the goodness of your heart," it was Caroline's turn to roll her eyes.

"Not at all," Rebekah smiled. "But I find the idea of Elena's suffering because her brother's dead somewhat appealing. I'll be happy to have a hand in that."

Well, Caroline had to give it to her, at least she was honest and logical. At least, in her own, evil Original, kind of way.

"Rebekah, you can't hurt her," Matt said firmly, putting his hand on Rebekah's.

"I won't," she assured him. "I'm just going to make her turn back her emotions. I will not lay a finger on her."

Caroline bit her lower lip. Once the idea has been planted in her head, she had to admit how amazing and easy of a plan it was. They did have a different way of convincing Elena to get her humanity back, even more powerful than that stupid sire bond... Maybe it was worth the risk?

"Okay, she said, finally. "But I swear, if you try something..."

Rebekah just grinned happily in response.

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><p><em>Coming next: Operation get Elena back to her usual self! But is it that easy?<em>

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><p><strong>AN2: Rebekah just going to the island with everybody (her brother's killers especially) never made much sense to me. But while I don't want to retcon that part of canon, this is me trying to fix it the best I can within the confides of this story. Hopefully, nobody will mind, because, really... Nope, I still don't get why she went and was so chill with Elena and Jeremy.**

**Also, out of curiosity, who do you ship Rebekah with? Matt, Stefan or Marcel? I can't seem to make up my mind about that and could use some input.**


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